Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to PBX systems, and more particularly, to remotely accessing PBX systems so as to utilize features inherent to the PBX systems via a remote handset, external to the PBX system, such as a standard, third party telephone device.
The majority of in-house telephone systems (e.g., PBX) in use today employ physical telephone units (referred to herein in general as xe2x80x9csetsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cdesksetsxe2x80x9d) that are wired into a switching device. The switching device, in conjunction with various processing components, provides a wide range of facilities and features to the deskset user. Such facilities and features include voicemail, call transfer, and conferencing, among others. The deskset is a user interface device that is typically comprised of a microphone/speaker, standardized telephone keypad, feature keys, text display, and other visual displays (e.g., lamps or LEDs), and is used primarily to receive and place telephone calls. The deskset employs a fixed and proprietary protocol for communicating with the switching device. Such protocols are typically restricted by the characteristics of the wire (i.e., the transmission path) that connects the deskset to the switching device.
A disadvantage to such in-house systems is the inability to provide an effective interface for users who do not have access to the deskset-wire-switch configuration (for example, mobile users). Such users may have access to standard third party telephone devices (e.g., cell phones, pay phones, etc.) connected to public telephone networks with public telephone numbers. These users have the ability to place and receive telephone calls via the standard third party devices, but since the third party devices operate independent from the inhouse system, they do not have access to the aforementioned facilities and features provided by their in house telephone system. A number of solutions are currently used to partially solve this problem. For example:
1) Call Forwardingxe2x80x94automatically forwarding all received calls from the in-house system to another telephone device (e.g., cell phone). This solution is a receive-only solution that xe2x80x9cblindxe2x80x9d transfers the call with no option to return to the user""s telephone system in the event of a busy line, ring no answer, or other failure to complete the forwarded call.
2) Attendant Transferxe2x80x94using a human attendant at the site of the in-house system to answer an incoming call, and transfer it to the telephone device. This solution requires the use of a human attendant and does not support a direct calling to called party paradigm
3) Bridged line appearances with auto-dialing of the telephone device numberxe2x80x94similar to Call Forwarding, this solution has the advantage of maintaining the host switch connection until the user answers the call. The limitation of this solution is that it is receive-only and once the call is completed the user cannot utilize any of the normal features associated with their line (e.g., conference or transfer)
4) DISAxe2x80x94allows a user to remotely access a telephone system for placing calls only with no restrictions on calling.
5) Voice Mail out-dialingxe2x80x94similar to DISA but is accessed via the voice mail system. This typically restricts a user to extension dialing only and supports no call control features.
6) Follow-Me featuresxe2x80x94automated attendants that answer calls on behalf of the user and then intelligently forward or hunt for the user. This call-receiving model is non-concurrent in that the calling party has to interact with an intermediary before reaching the desired party.
7) Off-Premise Extensionsxe2x80x94allows a standard deskset to be set up at a remote site for placing/receiving calls. This facility operates on leased lines only and provides no ability to alter the remote telephone device.
As cellular phone networks have proliferated, and cellular phones have become relatively mainstream, many corporate employees routinely maintain two phone numbers: their corporate PBX phone number and their cell phone number. Workers who need to be in constant contact with the office or clients often publish both numbers. Workers then need to maintain two separate voice mailboxes and callers are forced to remember two telephone numbers. Once their cell phone number is published, workers are unable to xe2x80x9cdisconnectxe2x80x9d from the work world and disallow incoming business calls. Typically the cell phone voicemail system is far inferior to the PBX voicemail system, and the worker must learn two different sets of procedures for manipulating voicemail. Workers who are away from their PBX xe2x80x9csetxe2x80x9d are also denied access to other features that their PBX provides. They are unable to transfer calls or to set up conference calls, and any long distance calls are subject to the cell phone carrier rates, not their corporate PBX long-distance rates.
The xe2x80x9ccall-forwardingxe2x80x9d feature provided by most PBX manufacturers may be used to solve this problem. When away from the digital set in the office, the worker programs the PBX to forward all incoming calls to their cell phone. This approach allows for incoming calls to get re-routed to their cell phones, and if the worker answers the cell phone, the call will be completed. However, if the worker doesn""t answer the call (e.g., they are away from the cell phone, the cell phone is turned off, they are on another cell phone call, the cell phone network is congested, or they are in an xe2x80x9cout-of-rangexe2x80x9d location), the call typically does not return to the PBX voicemail. This approach also does not attempt to provide any outgoing dialing features such as 4-digit inter-office dialing, transfer, or conference calls. Another disadvantage to call-forwarding is the fact that when the worker answers an incoming call to the cell phone, there is no way for the worker to know whether the call originated from the PBX as a forwarded call, or whether the call is coming directly from the cellular network. Thus, if the worker goes off-duty and forgets to remove call forwarding, he/she may accept calls that would be better routed to a PBX application such as voice mail, or be handled by an on-duty worker.
It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome the above-identified disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art.
The present invention improves upon the prior art approaches described herein by employing a xe2x80x9cSetless Extenderxe2x80x9d (also referred to herein as xe2x80x9cSetless Gatewayxe2x80x9d), co-located with a local telephone system, e.g., a PBX system, that is equipped with a xe2x80x9cproxyxe2x80x9d function. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9csetxe2x80x9d is used to denote a general telephone device. The term xe2x80x9csetlessxe2x80x9d is used herein to describe the lack of a direct connection to a telephone device. Thus, a Setless Extender describes a device, associated with a PBX system, that provides PBX functions to a user without requiring a direct connection from the user to the PBX system. The setless extender is permanently connected to the PBX, but has an on-demand connection to the user. For a xe2x80x9creceivexe2x80x9d (i.e., incoming) call, the setless extender signals the user""s telephone device (by placing a call or some other mechanism) and if the call is answered and accepted, it routes the received call""s voice to the telephone device. For a xe2x80x9cplacexe2x80x9d (i.e., outgoing) call, the user connects to the setless extender (by dialing in or some other mechanism), is authenticated (via password and/or dialback), and issues commands to go offhook and send dialing digits. In both cases the setless extender monitors the connection for user commands that can invoke features of the PBX and routes voice from the PBX to the user""s telephone device.
The advantages of the proxy as described herein are as follows
1) It is automated
2) It supervises the calls placed and received
3) It rings the telephone device concurrently with the receive call (i.e., the calling party does not experience delay)
4) The user can access all the call features and telephone facilities accessible via their deskset without the need for a physical deskset
5) It extends the line to a remote location
6) It supports xe2x80x9creceivexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cplacexe2x80x9d call usage
7) It can offer more advanced security features
8) It can support a broad range of telephone devices
9) The user can modify its characteristics. For example, the xe2x80x9ccall forwardingxe2x80x9d feature of directing a receive call to a remote, external telephone device can be enabled/disabled via remote commands originated by the user.
10) The user can be notified that a receive call to the extended telephone device is being forwarded from the PBX (i.e., xe2x80x9ccall acceptancexe2x80x9d feature)
11) User can change destination of call forwarding feature xe2x80x9con the fly.xe2x80x9d If the current destination (e.g., the user""s regular cell phone) fails, the user can contact the proxy and change the phone number to which future calls should be forwarded (e.g., to a secondary cell phone or another remote telephone device).
Since the user actively accepts any incoming PBX call, the Setless Extender user can choose to be xe2x80x9cconnectedxe2x80x9d to the work world and accept the call, or choose to be xe2x80x9cdisconnectedxe2x80x9d and ignore the call. The caller is not forwarded to the worker""s cell phone network, but rather stays in the corporate PBX to be typically sent to the worker""s corporate voicemail system. The user actually has two options if he/she wishes to be disconnected from the work world. In one case, the user can enable call forwarding, but decline to accept a call that is forwarded. In the other case, the user can disable call forwarding, so that incoming calls to the PBX are handled by the PBX system directly, without being transferred to a remote telephone device.
Users are now able to originate calls from a Setless Extender by using keypad entries to simulate digital deskset actions. For example, pressing xe2x80x98*xe2x80x99 xe2x80x98*xe2x80x99 xe2x80x98*xe2x80x99 equates to  less than Offhook greater than ; pressing xe2x80x98#xe2x80x99 xe2x80x98#xe2x80x99 xe2x80x98Txe2x80x99 equates to the  less than Transfer greater than  key. Outgoing calls originate from the PBX. Calls to the PBX are automatically forwarded to the xe2x80x9cSetlessxe2x80x9d extended phone. Other embodiments of the invention may include decoding non-DTMF voice information as PBX commands (e.g., the user may say xe2x80x9cHoldxe2x80x9d instead of pressing xe2x80x98#xe2x80x99 xe2x80x98#xe2x80x99 xe2x80x98Hxe2x80x99.
The foregoing and other objects are achieved by the invention which in one aspect comprises a system for extending a local telephone system to a remote telephone device, including a PBX system that includes a first bearer channel and a second bearer channel, and a setless gateway. The setless gateway is electrically coupled to the first bearer channel and to the second bearer channel of the PBX system. The system establishes a communications path from the remote telephone device to the setless gateway via the second bearer channel of the PBX system. The system further establishes a communications path from the setless gateway to a public switched telephone network via the first bearer channel of the PBX system. The setless gateway provides a communications path between the first bearer channel and the second bearer channel.
In another embodiment of the invention, the setless gateway receives one or more signaling commands from a remote source, and responds to the one or more signaling commands by performing one or more functions corresponding to the one or more signaling commands.
In another embodiment of the invention, the remote source includes the remote telephone device.
In another embodiment of the invention, the remote telephone device produces one or more DTMF signals that correspond to the one or more signaling commands.
In another embodiment of the invention, the setless gateway receives and recognizes one or more voice commands that correspond to the one or more signaling commands.
Another embodiment of the invention further includes a data network coupled to the setless gateway. The data network is also coupled to a computer system such that the setless gateway communicates with the computer system via the data network. The remote source providing the signaling commands includes the computer system.
In another embodiment of the invention, the setless gateway first detects an incoming call from the public switched telephone network via the first bearer channel, then places an outgoing call to the remote telephone device via the second bearer channel.
In another embodiment of the invention, the setless gateway loops the incoming call to the remote telephone device via the second bearer channel if remote telephone device answers the outgoing call.
In another embodiment of the invention, the setless gateway directs the PBX system to handle the incoming call if the remote telephone device does not answer the outgoing call.
In another embodiment of the invention, the remote telephone device provides one or more signaling commands to the setless gateway directing the setless gateway to forward the incoming call to the remote telephone device via the second bearer channel.
In another embodiment of the invention, the remote telephone device provides one or more signaling commands to the setless gateway directing the setless gateway to forward the incoming call to the remote telephone device via the second bearer channel, and to allow the PBX system to handle the incoming call if the remote telephone device does not accept the incoming call.
In another embodiment of the invention, the remote telephone device provides one or more signaling commands to the setless gateway that direct the setless gateway to not forward the incoming call to the remote telephone device via the second bearer channel. Rather, those signaling commands cause the setless gateway to allow the PBX system to handle the incoming call.
In another embodiment of the invention, the remote telephone device places a call to the direct inward dialing number associated with the second bearer channel, the setless gateway directs the PBX system to accept the call from the remote telephone device, and the setless gateway provides a communications path from the second bearer channel to the first bearer channel. In this embodiment, the system provides the remote telephone device access to the public switched telephone network via the PBX system.
In another embodiment of the invention, the setless gateway further requires authentication from the remote telephone device prior to providing the communications path from the second bearer channel to the first bearer channel.
In another embodiment of the invention, the setless gateway further calls the remote telephone device back prior to providing the communications path from the second bearer channel to the first bearer channel.
In another embodiment of the invention, the remote telephone device provides one or more signaling commands to the PBX system through a series path that includes the second bearer channel, the setless gateway, and the first bearer channel.
In another embodiment of the invention, the remote telephone device produces one or more DTMF signals corresponding to the one or more signaling commands.
In another aspect, the invention comprises a system for extending a local telephone system to a remote telephone device. The system includes a first communications path from the remote telephone device to a setless gateway via a second bearer channel of a PBX system. The system also includes a second communications path from the setless gateway to a public switched telephone network via a first bearer channel of the PBX system. The system further includes a third communications path between the first bearer channel and the second bearer channel through the setless gateway. The system provides an overall communications path from the remote device to the public switched telephone network via the PBX system, such that the remote telephone device has access to one or more features provided by the PBX system.
In another aspect, the invention comprises a system for extending a local telephone system to a remote telephone device. The system includes means for establishing a communications path from the remote telephone device to a setless gateway via a second bearer channel of a PBX system. The system also includes means for establishing a communications path from the setless gateway to a public switched telephone network via a first bearer channel of the PBX system. The system also includes means for providing a communications path between the first bearer channel and the second bearer channel through the setless gateway.
In another aspect, the invention comprises an extending system for forwarding an incoming call to a remote telephone device from a local telephone system. The extending system includes a PBX system including a first bearer channel and a second bearer channel, and a setless gateway, electrically coupled to the first bearer channel and the second bearer channel of the PBX system. The setless gateway receives the incoming call via the first bearer channel, the setless gateway establishes a connection to the remote telephone device through the PBX system via the second bearer channel, and the setless gateway routes the first bearer channel to the second bearer channel.
In another embodiment of the invention, the remote telephone device selectively provides a positive acceptance indication to the setless gateway as a condition to accepting the incoming call.
In another embodiment of the invention, the positive acceptance indication includes one or more signaling commands generated by corresponding keystrokes on the remote telephone device.
In another embodiment of the invention, the remote telephone device provides one or more signaling commands to the setless gateway directing the setless gateway to forward the incoming call to the remote telephone device via the second bearer channel.
In another embodiment of the invention, the remote telephone device provides one or more signaling commands to the setless gateway directing the setless gateway not to forward the incoming call to the remote telephone device via the second bearer channel. These signaling commands direct the setless gateway to allow the PBX system to handle the incoming call.
In another aspect, the invention comprises a method of extending a local telephone system to a remote telephone device. The method includes establishing a communications path from the remote telephone device to a setless gateway via a second bearer channel of a PBX system. The method further includes establishing a communications path from the setless gateway to a public switched telephone network via a first bearer channel of the PBX system. The method also includes providing a communications path between the first bearer channel and the second bearer channel through the setless gateway.
In another aspect, the invention comprises an extending system for extending a local telephone system to a remote telephone device. The extending system includes a PBX system having a first bearer channel, a setless gateway, electrically coupled to the first bearer channel of the PBX system, and a direct link from the remote telephone device to the setless gateway. The extending system establishes a communications path from the remote telephone device to the setless gateway via the direct link to the setless gateway. The extending system further establishes a communications path from the setless gateway to a public switched telephone network via the first bearer channel of the PBX system. The setless gateway provides a communications path between the first bearer channel and the second bearer channel.
In another aspect, the invention comprises an extending system for extending a local telephone system to a remote telephone device. The extending system includes a first communications path from the remote telephone device to a setless gateway via a direct link. The extending system further includes a second communications path from the setless gateway to a public switched telephone network via a first bearer channel of the PBX system. The extending system also includes a third communications path between the first bearer channel and the second bearer channel through the setless gateway. The system provides an overall communications path from the remote device to the public switched telephone network via the PBX system, such that the remote telephone device has access to one or more features provided by the PBX system.
In another aspect, the invention comprises a method of extending a local telephone system to a remote telephone device. The method includes providing a first communications path from the remote telephone device to a setless gateway via a direct link to the setless gateway. The method further includes providing a second communications path from the setless gateway to a public switched telephone network via a first bearer channel of a PBX system. The method also includes providing a third communications path between the first bearer channel and the second bearer channel. The method provides an overall communications path from the remote device to the public switched telephone network via the PBX system, such that the remote telephone device has access to one or more features provided by the PBX system.